Building the Specialized Venge Vias

Here are some more photos of building up the bike this morning and then some photos of afterward. There were many good concepts behind the hidden cable design and mounts as well as possibilities for having Junction A externally mounted beneath the adjustable Garmin mount on the front of the handlebars. Some of the setup for the front brake is difficult and I have to trim the cable several times and re-sleeve it before it actuated correctly and smoothly. The routing over the the steerer tube of the brake hoses and Di2 wire was well thought out and (while tight) came together great. The addition of the carbon waterbottle cage (included) with the SWAT tool and mounting bracket below the cage was a nice touch. We immediately went for Supakaz Black Kush tape instead of the stock white and also replaced the white Power saddle with a black one to stealth it out. All in all, it built nicely and looked good in the final photos. Final weight with the cage and SWAT (no pedals) as stock build for a 56cm was 17.57 lbs. I am just going to display all the photos below right after each other so you can see the details. Message or comment with any questions!

7 thoughts on “Building the Specialized Venge Vias”

About 3.5 hours. The front brake seems to be the only really tricky part past the cable routing in the stem. I suggest removing the side of the brake where the housing comes out (drive side) and making sure that there is as little drag as possible on the cable and apply a liberal amount of SP41 Shimano grease to the cable and housing. Reinstall the brake and then check for friction in the cable before routing it through to the non-drive side.

Marc, The only reason we build them with the max acceptable spacers (40mm) is so there is leg room for the fit. Nearly every one that has been fitted ends up with a much smaller stack height. Also, the aero advantage is not just the headset spacers. If anything the spacers have very little influence on the aero advantage. The shape of the bar and the more aggressive stem angle account for much of the frontal aero aspect (handlebars and stem account for nearly 30% of drag on the front end of the bike). Also, both of the brakes are positioned accordingly to provide exceptional aero advantage with minimal drag. Lastly, the aero seatpost plays a much better role in being aero than the cobble gobbler seatpost on the SWORKS Roubaix. The stack height is one of the least influential parts of being aero. I would rather have a higher stack of spacers than a taller headtube (which would influence aero advantage way more).

Raymond, if you check out the photos right below the one with the manual above, you’ll see that black metal plate with white writing on it and slots for each cable/wire. That guy has to be popped up and then route the wire into the channel and down into the frame at the BB before putting it back on. This is definitely one of the situations where I set up something to hold the bars and stem stable in front of the headset so I could route it easier. It is one of the reasons I am writing the article “When you need three hands for a project when you only have two.” I remember being quite frustrated the first several times doing it. I believe I had a trashcan upside down with a box on top to hold the bars while I routed the cables though that headset plate right above the bearing. You are definitely right that the wire won’t fit through the holes otherwise. Pop that plate out and check out the slots for each wire. Please let me know if that helps. If not, I can photoshop onto one of the photos what I mean. Thanks!

Additionally, you will have to do the same thing with the stem shim. It is like the multi-position stems that Specialized makes. Slide that out of the stem and route the wire into the channel and then slide the shim back into the stem.